Paper Retracts 1863 Editorial Calling Gettysburg Address 'Silly'

It took them 150 years, but The Patriot-News, based in Harrisburg, 30 miles north of Gettysburg, has retracted their review of President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Back in 1863, the paper called the speech “silly”:

“We pass over the silly remarks of the President. For the credit of the nation we are willing that the veil of oblivion shall be dropped over them and that they shall be no more repeated or thought of.”

Yesterday, the Patriot-News finally stepped up to the plate and went on the record with a different take on what is considered by many to be the greatest speech in American history (delivered by our greatest president):

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Seven score and ten years ago, the forefathers of this media institution brought forth to its audience a judgment so flawed, so tainted by hubris, so lacking in the perspective history would bring, that it cannot remain unaddressed in our archives.

We write today in reconsideration of “The Gettysburg Address,” delivered by then-President Abraham Lincoln in the midst of the greatest conflict seen on American soil. Our predecessors, perhaps under the influence of partisanship, or of strong drink, as was common in the profession at the time, called President Lincoln’s words “silly remarks,” deserving “a veil of oblivion,” apparently believing it an indifferent and altogether ordinary message, unremarkable in eloquence and uninspiring in its brevity.

We applaud The Patriot-News for this stunning reversal and we eagerly await a retraction and correction from the New York Times for their laughable characterization of President Obama’s “keep your insurance” lie as an “incorrect promise.” Maybe in 2163 they’ll make that correction.